Yama
by Yotsubadancesintherain5
Summary: Takeo goes up into the mountains for two months. His hair grows out.


**A/N: A sort of sequel to "where the fields are painted gold."**

**Title is mountain in Japanese.**

One day Takeo was invited by his old high school friends to go up into the mountains for two months. It wasn't going to be camping because the summer heat would be too much in a tent but more like a retreat at a nature center. After a few moments they added that Rinko could come along as well but Takeo had second thoughts about that, and about going in general.

He kept this secret for a few hours and finally broke it out when they were cooking dinner together. Takeo asked if she was going to be fine being alone for two months. She playfully pressed the wooden spoon she was using to scoop the rice out against his cheek. Rinko said that she would be fine alone – she was like his mom, tough and strong during pregnancy.

Takeo meant to keep his, "I'm worried," internal but it escaped his mouth and he quickly ate a tomato slice as if it'd keep the ghost of his words inside his throat. Rinko reiterated that she would be okay. And, she added, if something was wrong he'd know right away. They had a satellite of love.

And so a few days later Takeo was packed up and ready to go. He still fidgeted on the way there and had stuffed his cell phone in a pocket in his luggage that he wouldn't think to look. For being so tall mountains weren't very good at keeping Wi-Fi signals.

He thought about the cell phone charm dangling from his phone, his mouth turning up into a grin when he remembered Rinko presenting it to him. The bunny had seen better days, the fur becoming rough like old carpet and grey, the nose had fallen off, the eyes were chipped and its string had broken a few times. But it wasn't going to come off his phone unless it burst into flames. And the odds of that happening were hopefully slim.

The first day up at the nature center Takeo saw a family of boars. He wondered if it was the same boar that gave him and Rinko trouble. That night he had a dream about the boars visiting and playing with his children. For the dream's logic he could transform into a boar, and so could his children. He could only envision his children in their boar forms, and the dream ended before Rinko could finish making carrot cake. Takeo remembered the dream when he woke up but forgot it at breakfast.

The two months passed by quickly but there was a difference in Takeo. His hair had grown to his shoulders though he didn't notice until Kurihara picked up a few strands and brought it over Takeo's shoulder.

On the ride back home Takeo was going to text Rinko but realized that his phone was still in that hidden spot in his luggage. It took a little to not peek through his suitcase and dig around for it.

Luckily before long they were at the bus station and Takeo bid farewell to his friends. He was about to go get his hair cut but decided to see what Rinko thought of it.

When he got home Rinko rushed out of the house and nearly knocked him to the ground with her hug. She looked at his hair and said that he looked like an American rock star. She asked if she could braid it and Takeo nodded.

Later in the day Takeo washed his hair with more than enough shampoo and didn't spend much time in the bath. When he got dressed in pajamas and went to their bedroom where Rinko was waiting with a hairbrush and hair bands; the room soon smelled like mint shampoo.

Rinko gathered up strands of hair and brushed them until they were no longer tangled. She plaited them together tightly, wrapping the hair bands around the braid and smoothing down a few stray strands. She pulled on the braid gently to see if it would hold and kissed the back of Takeo's head when she was done. His face was warm.

Takeo wore the braid from that night until the end of the next day when it became loose. It wouldn't have minded if it stayed in place forever.

**A/N: Originally posted on AO3 on August 19 2017**

**I have short hair (only goes down to my jaw) and was thinking that I've never gotten my hair braided. And then somehow it turned into this.****  
****I've mentioned before in a different fic that I view touching someone's hair as weirdly intimate. It's mostly because whenever someone touches my hair I go, "What?! Huh?! What's happening?!" so I suppose it shows a good deal of trust between the two people.**


End file.
